You will inevitably find the term guest posting when you explore the literature of online marketing, SEO, and others. We agree with it because the same is important and a must-have for you or your website.
This is a comprehensive and complete guest posting guide that we have compiled for you. You can easily learn how to start and eventually get better at it.
Guest Posting Guide - Understanding
When an author publishes content on someone else’s website then it is known as posting as guests. The author selects a website which he/she deems preferable for placing one of their articles. Then he/she contacts the owner and requests cooperation for setting up an arrangement for the same.
It helps you in reaching a wide range of audiences across the globe. You are entitled to receive Word of Mouth of marketing for your post. Above all, you do not have to worry about the SEO of the site or increasing the traffic. The owner will do it for his website and will benefit you indirectly.
Building credibility and gaining new audiences will be your major gains from this activity. The following are some of the methods that you will help you start and grow.
1. Selecting the right website
At the beginning of this guest posting guide, it is important to understand the importance of publishing your content on influential platforms.
The advantage of doing so is, that for your industry, such websites are successful and a brand in itself. Apart from that, any content published there has the highest degree of authority and credibility. Featuring your post there would give you credit as an expert in that field.
But in the starting phase, it is a tough task to assume that you will be featured in a famous blog or huge magazine. Let us take the baby steps and start small in our journey. If your content is rock solid and you can amaze the reader, then you will have opportunities to quickly scale up.
• Aim High and Start Small
The first important advice regarding posting as a guest has been successfully tackled. Remember staying realistic is the goal. You should be aware and proud of your skills, expertise, and strengths. But you must not forget that you are still an amateur when it comes to dealing with cooperation and media outlets.
The first parameter is to limit the search only to websites that are actually entertaining such posts. There is no harm in sending random and open pitches along with your proposal. But, when your offer does not meet their policy then you are often going to get disappointed.
Determining your target audience is the first thing to do when you start compiling a list of potential partners. Anything that is related to the area you are writing or industry will be helpful. But your content will do better only when you have a niche-focused and precise website targeting.
As you are commencing your journey don’t settle for two or three proposals even if you are sure of acceptance. It is extremely important to stay optimistic and patient. It is highly possible that before you get a positive response you will have to send dozens of proposals.
The question here is how to procure a list that includes potential websites that will accept your post? In this guest posting guide, we have covered the same.
• Google Keyword Research
There are multiple and individualistic methods of finding a potential list for your sector. But, the most simple and effective one is to Google search your target keyword along with guest posts. It will help you in discovering straightforward results that are effective and related to your niche.
Websites that are prominently doing this have a specific page where all the things are clearly explained. Everything related to the contract along with the procedure on how to apply for the same is also provided.
To discover guest posts invitation and pages there are many search strings and some of them are as follows. The term “target keyword” remains the first word. Along with that, you have to add the following.
o “write for us”
o “guest post”
o “submit article”
o “submit post”
o “submit content”
o “become a guest blogger”
o “guest author”
o For instance, use the stings like this “target keyword” + “guest post”
You can get relevant and useful results with these stings. It will help you in creating a potential list of the websites accepting posts related to your niche or industry.
2. Getting your post and pitch ready
With the help of the guest posting guide, you will discover the dream website where you can post your content. So what now?
You are going to interact with a representative and hence the first thing is to prepare a pitch. It is necessary to know what will your article be based upon? What will be the tone of the voice and the methodology of approach that you intend to use?
You must remember that websites that accept entries from guests are adamant about the quality. Hence, it is necessary to include points in your pitch to convince them that you are an ideal choice.
How is your article benefiting their target audience is also a major section to cover. Ideally, a host is looking for qualities like disciplined submission, quality, factual, and authoritative content.
3. Connect with Potential Websites
Preparing a pitch is an individualistic approach and is highly dependent on the sector. Hence, no guest posting guide can give you the exact methodology of doing the same because it varies. Once you have the pitch ready, it is time to reach out to the target website and make a partnership.
The approach can be channelized from your end in numerous ways. The specific section of the website is one of the most influential ways but you can also use other mediums to your advantage.
The chances of the application landing with the deciding authority are the highest when you approach through the official website. The submitted article section is the most recommended method.
Other mediums are influential as well but you are never assured that your pitch landed with the right authority. There is also no method to confirm if it is forwarded to them or not.
In case the submit article section is missing on the website you can reach out to their official contact email. It can be contact@... info@... hello@... etc.
The other means include getting a hand at the email address of the editors, owner, head of the department, and similar others. This will ensure that your application has ended up with the right person.
4. Writing your Post
After a tough journey filled with patience and enthusiasm, you will finally make it. It will be a moment to realize the fact that you are commencing a new journey when you are onboard. The things become important from here because you have to deliver what you have mentioned in the pitch.
Top-notch quality is inevitable when you decide to write as a guest. You might be publishing for someone else but it is your credibility at risk if the quality degrades. On the contrary, the quality should be even more precise.
The important advice from this guest posting guide is that you never forget that you are interacting with an audience that doesn’t know you. You are actually creating a first impression that will decide your future. This guest posting guide includes some tips to capture user’s attention which are as follows.
• Focus on capturing the attention
The title of the article will be the first point of contact between you and the readers. Do not let them abandon your article from the title itself. It needs to be interesting, attractive, and catchy. But it should also be relevant to the article.
You should not pick up a random influential title about finance and talk about digital marketing in the article. If you do so it will not take even sixty seconds for the audience to quit. Above all, you lose a potential chance of getting republished.
Another crucial aspect to focus on is the introduction or first paragraph. It should include things that users actually want to read about. The key to mesmerizing users is to make it interesting, funny, and unique.
• Convenient Readability
Readability mostly deals with the structure, sentence length, and separate paragraphs. In simple terms, it means that your text should be easy to read. Therefore, good readability is mandatory for any text.
The level of readability varies from one nice to another and also with the target audience. Technical or philosophical articles are tough to read but still wok. While on the other hand guide and tutorials should be extremely easy to interpret. Must read : How to Improve Content Ranking for SEO Metrics.
Keep the sentences short and make sure that you achieve a better rhythm.
• Add Images
Visual content is always more preferred compared to read that only has texts. Hence, as visual creatures, this is a psychological move to add relevant images in the read.
Ensure that you include images that are free from copyrights. If you have access to premium collections it is always good to use them. Otherwise, there are plenty of free collections available online.
Conclusion
Here is an end to this guide. You are all set to dive in now and commence your journey as a guest blogger. All the best.
